Last update - 00:00 12/05/2007
Four hikers killed when swept away in Judean Desert floods
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters
Four hikers were killed Saturday in flash floods near the archeological site of Qumran in the Judean Desert.
The four hikers who died are 24-year-old Tal Alon from Moshav Mei Ami, and three 23-year-olds: Dror Koren from Herzeliya, Noa Shapira from Kfar Saba and Amit Gotleib from Rehovot.
A group of 11 hikers abseiling down a cliff had got stuck because of a flood in the usually dry river bed. Rescue forces evacuated 7 of the hikers, but four others drowned in the rising waters.
"It was an enormous amount of water, coming down in several falls of 40 to 50 meters (130-160 feet)," rescue team member Chemi Leib told Channel One television. "These guys were hanging on their ropes and when that amount of water arrives there's no chance to survive it."
A second group of some 14 hikers was safely evacuated from the area.
The groups were hiking near the remains of the village of Qumran, best known as the settlement closest to the cave in which Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
Rainfall in the Judean Desert is generally scarce, averaging less than 50mm a year.
The fatal flood was not as big as those that occur during the winter when run off accumulates in the Judean mountains and then flows towards the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth not covered by ice or water.
Saturday's cloudburst lasted less than an hour and was limited to a relatively small area. The run off quickly flooded the small drainage area of the Qumran stream which resulted in the strong flow of water.
Hikers have no way of keeping informed on the potentially hazardous weather conditions because no metereological organization is responsible for alerting the public.
However, group organizers who call the Israel Nature and Parks Authority receive information on whether or not to enter the ravines of seasonal streams.